I’ll say up front, that I know there are inherent problems with teaching the differences between abstract and realistic art. Most art is somewhere in between and runs along a spectrum but going too far down this road with 3 and 4 year olds could get very convoluted, so we keep it simple.

My main goal is to teach the kids these two words in the most basic sense. An abstract art work is essentially a design using either organic shapes or geometric shapes. Next class we’ll go deeper into these two words. And a realistic art work derives its imagery from things in the real world like a person, place or thing.

After showing a few drawn examples of mine on a work sheet and everyone nods their heads saying that “they get it, they get it,” I hit them with maybe their first ever pop, quiz. I show them a series of famous paintings and ask them to tell me whether it’s abstract of realistic. If they get it wrong, I raise an eyebrow to indicate a different answer. They caught onto this quick. They actually seemed to truly enjoy this “test.” Must be the New Yorker in them.

Then they get the opportunity to show their understanding of the concepts by making two drawings showing the difference between the two types of art work.